The Domino Effect: How One Power Outage Can Impact an Entire Community of Small Businesses

When most people think of a power outage, they picture a few hours without lights, internet, or air conditioning. For small businesses, though, the impact is far bigger, and it doesn’t stop when the lights come back on.

A single extended outage can set off a domino effect that ripples through the entire local economy. We’ve seen it happen all over the country lately, from WNC to Texas to Wisconsin and California. If we’ve learned one thing from natural disasters and power outages this year, it’s that no state is safe. We are all vulnerable to these inevitable and life-changing events.

The First Domino: Your Business Operations

When the power goes out, the immediate challenges hit quickly and can include lost revenue from missed sales, spoiled inventory, and employees unable to work. For many small businesses, even one day of downtime can mean thousands of dollars in lost income. A few days without power can set back a business for months, and sometimes they end up having to close their doors for good.

The Next Domino: Your Customers

If your doors are closed, your customers often have to look elsewhere. That one missed transaction might seem small, but when it happens across multiple local businesses, it can shift customer habits and hurt long-term loyalty. Every day a business is forced to shut down, it risks losing both loyal customers and potential new ones.

The Ripple Effect: Your Community

Small businesses aren’t just storefronts, they’re part of the driving force of a community. When multiple businesses in a neighborhood have to shut down, the impact reaches delivery drivers, service providers, and even neighboring shops that depend on the foot traffic you help generate. We are truly all connected.

Why It Matters

Resilience isn’t just about protecting your business, it’s about protecting the community that depends on you. At Centinel, we built PowerProtect™ to help small businesses get immediate support after a major outage, so they can recover faster and keep those dominos from falling too far.

A Little Extra Support

We love small businesses, and this week we are sending some extra love to local restaurants! To show our support, we’re giving away a $50 Visa gift card to 5 lucky followers. To enter, just tag your favorite restaurant in the comments and help spread the word about them. Let’s spark a ripple effect of positivity for the incredible restaurants and cafes that keep our communities thriving and fed.

To enter, just follow @YourCentinel on Instagram, like our giveaway post, and tag your favorite restaurants in the comments. Each tag = 1 entry!